By Connie Barrett
Creativity is not the exclusive property of visual artists, writers,
dancers, or those active in any of the fields we consider "artistic."
Creativity is key to the well-lived life. In its broadest sense,
creativity is the ability to imagine and design a life that fully
expresses your dreams. In that sense we are all artists, and for every artist the creative path
involves countless decisions and choices in service to our visions. When
we're creative in our relationships, we can guide them out of ruts and
conflict. Creative thinking at the workplace gives us passion for what
we do. When we think imaginatively about ourselves, we can literally
recreate our lives.
In vibrational terms creativity comes from unhindered access to the
energy of our soul essence. Inhibition of this energy flow leads to
creative blockages. The following Bach Flower Remedies can help to
dissolve these psychic log-jams. While I probably could have chosen dozens of essences related to creativity, I decided to select some Bach Flower Essences not ordinarily
associated with creativity.
Pine: Guilty Before Charged
It's healthy to look for ways to improve our skills, polish our gifts,
and enhance our lives. Settling for less than being all we can be
usually leads to inertia and dissatisfaction. What matters is the spirit
in which we strive for self-improvement.
When every mistake offers an occasion for guilt and self-condemnation, however,
our ability to take creative risks is greatly diminished. Imagine
someone who gets an idea about how to improve office procedures. She
works on her concept in an initial spurt of enthusiasm, but once she's
drawn up a plan, she begins mentally tearing it apart, finding
everything that's wrong or missing. Physical destruction follows mental
demolition, and her idea dies before it can see the light of day.
Pine allows us to launch our ideas without shooting them down during their
first flight. It helps us to study mistakes and detect flaws without
judging ourselves for them. With this perspective we can learn and
expand our ability to act effectively and creatively.
Rock Water: The Straight and Narrow Path
This essence relates to mental and emotional rigidity: the refusal to
expand one's boundaries by questioning old assumptions. People who can
benefit from Rock Water run their lives by an unbending set of rules.
Their speech is peppered with "I would never" and "I will always."
While this is an extreme description, whenever we are ruled by the
beliefs and behavior patterns of our parents or culture rather than by
the voice of intuition or spirit or soul, we establish dead zones of
rigidity where nothing new can grow.
I find that this is a particularly good essence for the kinds of
creative blockages where one finds oneself recycling the same old tired
ideas. While "writer's block" is the best known of such blockages, Rock
Water can help whenever you feel stuck.
This essence is the only Bach Flower Essence which isn't extracted from
a flower, but from natural springs and holy wells long held sacred for
their curative powers. Rock Water
thus embodies the essence of flow,
guiding us to the road less traveled.
Holly: Poison Envy
The Holly essence primarily addresses hatred and envy. I view envy as a
primary inhibitor of creativity. You will hear people active -- and
unsuccessful -- in the arts explain the success of others with words such
as: "Her father is an editor (curator, stage manager). If I had
connections I'd be making it, too."
In general, the envious tend to feel that the success of others is
undeserved, and they envy people the supposed ease of their success:
whether it's in a career, a happy love relationship, or financial
accomplishments. (Sometimes it's difficult for those new to
essences to distinguish between Holly and Willow. The person in need of
Holly tends to be more active in their expressions of envy; those who
need Willow exhibit a smoldering, passive, resentment.)
When we believe that success is a matter of luck, we are unlikely to
trust the power of our own creativity. If we believe that happiness is
available in limited quantities, we block ourselves from getting our
share. The sight of others' success or happiness only reminds us of our
lack, thus deepening our envy.
Holly has an additional benefit for those who seek to enhance their
creativity. Dr. Edward Bach said of this essence: "Holly protects us
from everything that is not Universal Love. Holly opens the heart and
unites us with Divine Love."
Think about which of these three remedies might apply to you.
When we create in the spirit of love -- for ourselves, for others, for the
act of creation itself -- our experience of life becomes transformed. No
longer fixated on the goal, the accomplishment, the END, we remember
what we always knew: that the journey itself is our most artistic
creation.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Connie Barrett does flower essence counseling for people and pets, including
by email. For more about Connie's work and links to her previous articles
in Vibration, visit her
Frequent Contributor's Page.
ART CREDITS: Donna Cunningham of
Word of Mouth Web Design
created the tiles and treatment for this page, based on an original design by Deborah Bier
of Hometown Websmith.
Clip art from Clipart.com.
The World Wide Essence Society does not mean to imply any recommendation of nor give certification to any individuals or companies above. This article is provided purely for informational purposes. We ask consumers to make their own determination as to quality of the services and products offered above. This article is not meant to be advice, and the information is not meant to replace medical or psychological treatment.
